Veronica Martinez-Cantu was sworn in Tuesday, Oct. 13 as the Garland ISD Board of Trustees Place 4 replacement for Dr. Cindy Castaneda who resigned the seat earlier this year.Martinez-Cantu holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science degrees from the University of North Texas and served as a research assistant at UNT. Her 11 years of experience in the education field include time at Lewisville ISD and increasing responsibilities in a position with Dallas ISD where she is school leadership coordinator.
Board President Larry Glick said that resumes began coming in slowly after the position was announced and that the first received were outstanding. He added that as more were received, they were “as good if not better” than the ones received before and he knew that the job of choosing a trustee would be difficult.
There were 18 resumes that included applicants from each of the three cities that comprise Garland ISD as well as applicants from the district’s three largest demographic groups.
The board used a specific formula to get the number of applicants to 10 then conducted interviews with each individual. Each was given an individual question to answer and then asked 13 questions in face-to-face interviews with the trustees.
Martinez-Cantu has three children attending school in GISD.
“We expect her to an amazing addition to our board,” Glick said.
He added that Martinez-Cantu does not intend to seek the seat in the May elections.